Stop Feeling Guilty About What you Eat!

You ever have one of those days? You’re trying hard to stay on the right track with your food, your lifestyle, you’ve got a grip, you’ve got the education, but there are still days when you just want that certain “unhealthy” something.

I’m sitting here drinking coffee. Yes, you read that right. I, a Holistic Nutritionist who reminds people of the “risks” of drinking coffee daily, is drinking a coffee and enjoying it. I’m drinking coffee knowing what it is doing to me and what it is not doing to me. I relish the memories it brings me. I dread the onslaught of toilet runs that doth approaches. I swoon at the scent of the beans and cream. I cringe thinking of the leaching of my calcium stores.

And I start to feel Guilt.

Then I remember something important from many lectures at school. Food Guilt is worst than the actual food. Food is not evil or good. Food is sustenance. Sometimes it makes you feel good, other times it makes you feel bad. But YOU make that food good or bad. Your body undergoes more stress when you’re eating something healthy and totally HATING it, while your friend is wolfing down that burger in a totally stress-free moment…(don’t worry, the stress will eventually come for your friend down the road if she keeps inhaling those burgers!). Your blood pressure goes up, anxiety creeps in, fears about weight loom, worries about screwing up a regime pop up. Forget that!!

Mindfully eat your food, and accept the consequences, be aware of what it does, joyfully accept its treasures and nourishment, and then stop.

Toss aside the guilt. You’re doing fine. Once in a while, eat something that you miss, and just remember in the background your reason for changing the way and what you eat. Be kind to yourself, and your human limitations, and your ambitions, and accomplishments, and disappointments.

No guilt, no shame, no regret. If you feel these after you eat, then you eat more “bad” foods to compensate for your guilt. If you feel no guilt after you eat, you can accept responsibility of your food choice, you don’t feel shame and you can move on. Move on, move around, enjoy your self, and love life. Every second is another opportunity to make a better choice than the last.

And remember, food guilt is not real, don’t let it overtake you. Food is real, and so is your chance to live a happy, beautiful, and joyful life.

Hmmm…this making peace with your food, kind of makes sense.

*If you want to learn more on the topic of food guilt, check out Nourishing Wisdom by Marc David.*